“What the Heck Should I Call my Business?”
As usual, I was brainstorming at the kitchen table, bouncing ideas off my dad. Ever the experimenter, he loves to chase down whatever idea I have – no matter how crazy it might seem – and set his incredibly intelligent mind to the task.
But I have to say, this one had us stumped. I was getting the ball rolling on my business but I had no idea what to call it. And I couldn’t get an LLC, a website, social media handles, or anything important without knowing what its name would be. All the ones that came to mind were already taken – and I was struggling to get creative.
Until my dad thought of my initials: ABC. (Well, technically they’re ACB, but close enough). And from that came the idea of “making social media as easy as 1, 2, 3.” A little cheesy? Maybe, but it perfectly described my goal with my business.
Square 1 Accelerator & Outsourcing for My Business
Once I knew what my business would be called, I set about finding the right help to get it off the ground. I count myself so lucky to have found Ashli Pollard on Instagram because it led to me joining Square 1 Accelerator – basically, the most comprehensive how-to course on starting your business combined with an epic community (that continues to support me, and them, to this day!) There’s a lot of coaches on Instagram selling courses that – let’s face it – are a lot of fluff. Ashli cuts through all of that bullshit and gives you exactly what you need to succeed. I started Square 1 Accelerator in February and that set my business on a much different trajectory than if I had tried to do it on my own.
During Square 1, I filed for my LLC and bought contracts to get my business set up legally. I also got myself my domain, my google workspace email, and some other tools like Flo Desk for email marketing. Beyond the admin, I outlined what my services would be & their pricing and started to plan out what my business would look like over the next year – guided the whole time by Ashli, whose advice was invaluable.
But while Square 1 Accelerator gave me all the tools to do everything myself, I am a busy, busy person. Like, my to do list is 2 pages long some days busy. I’m a college student, full time athlete, and running my own business (in addition to being a skincare influencer and coach). I made the decision that while I could do certain things for my business myself, I was better off outsourcing. Granted, I had the financial privilege to be able to do so and was very lucky to have that option.
I hired a website designer (Danielle from Create with Danielle), a copywriter (Kaili from Kaptivate Content Services – an absolute gem and incredible person/team to work with), and Jama, a branding photographer, because my perfectionist type-A self likes everything to be done right the first time. Many people preach messy action – and I do too! It’s important to jump sometimes without having everything totally figured out. However, because of limits on my time, I decided I would rather spend the money to get it done well once than have to spend the money later and undo what I did messily. (But that’s my personal preference)
After “graduating” from Square 1 Accelerator I had the foundations of my business outlined and got to work on working in my business. I started focusing heavily on my social media (predominantly Instagram, although I did try out Tik Tok!) and experimented with email marketing. I joined Ashli’s membership to stay in touch with the amazing people I met during the program. I focused a lot on education, connection, and trying out new things.
And then in June, two months after Square 1 ended, I booked my first client! I now have two clients on my roster – one monthly management account and one coaching client – and am looking forward to adding more as ABC SMM expands.
This business began at the kitchen table from my initials and has grown into what will be my full-time job after college graduation. And I’m so excited.
